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Datum: 8-11-2016    Lagos (part 2)
 Tuesday 01-11 to Sunday 06-11-2016
The last week in Lagos we celebrate my birthday and wait for the last orders to come in.

1st of November, Caroline’s birthday.
The past week, all kinds of packages have been coming in, which Fred immediately put away. I have to wait until my birthday. On the day we are awakened at around 7:00 in the morning, by a clappering sound. I hop out of bed to investigate where this is coming from. When I look outside, I see lots and lots of signalling flags along the railing! What a nice surprise! This is not Fred’s doing, because we don’t have plastic flags. This must be the work of Maarten and Antoinette! They rose at a very early time to do this especially for me, so sweet of them! Then it is presents-time! My love spoils me with a wonderful new lens for my camera, a set of small super-duper speaker boxes, that can be attached to the pc and a… private toy. From Ingrid and family I get a nice body cream by Rituals. From my best friend I get a silver necklace with a charm in the form of a life-tree. There is a box full of nice things to eat, like chocolate sprinkles and liquorice, sent to me by my dear friend Johan. So that I can enjoy a nice sandwich with sprinkles, every now and then! Furthermore congrats through WhatsApp, mail and Facebook.
We invite Antoinette and Maarten to coffee with a helping of cake and also our English neighbours come over. Again I am being spoilt rotten by presents. It is peculiar to celebrate your birthday far away from the Netherlands, family and friends. But fortunately all our new friends make up for it.
Car rental
In Lagos you can rent a car in several places, all within walking distance from the Marina. Now that the peak season is over, the prices are much more reasonable. We decide to rent a car for a day and to pass by the supermarket to take in some stock. That saves us a lot of towing with the water bottles, tins and pots. The day before we check what we still have on board, adjust the stock list and draw up a shopping list. Very early Fred gets the car and some moments later we drive, in a sprightly, bright red coloured Volkswagen direction Lidl (of course there is a Lidl here!) Here we stock up most things, but alas not everything on the list. On our way to the next supermarket (Pingo Dolce) we see Antoinette and Maarten crossing the street. We have a short chat before we blaze along with our little red car! After all the shopping, Fred takes everything on to the boat, I still have to watch my back. Tomorrow we will put everything away.
The rest of the day we spend exploring the hinterland of the Algarve. Before, we have read a bit about it, to map out a beautiful tour along nice spots. Our tour: Lagos, São Sebastião, Albufeira da Barragem de Odiáxere, Romeiras, Marmalete, Caldas de Monchique and the town of Monchique, São Marcos de Serra, São Bartolomeu de Messines, Silves and back to Lagos by way of Portimão. Too bad the weather leaves something to be desired, from sunny to suddenly a hose and also the temperature is not quite what it should be. So a perfect day to tour around in a car. We kept our TomTom for this kind of outings, but unfortunately the power supply of the car does not work and the TomTom doesn’t charge. Luckily we both have cell phones with routers on it and also the ‘Powerbank’ (mobile charger). To make matters worse Fred’s cell phone is almost empty and charging it from the Powerbank is apparently not possible. In short, we navigate with my cell phone along small roads and hope and pray that my phone will not be empty before we reach Lagos. The roads here are not really well-kept and hardly lit. If we don’t make it, it will be quite a job to find our way back out of this hinterland without a map or anything. Gradually we discover that, now the high season is over, the hinterland is much more desolate than we expected. Villages look abandoned and most restaurants and cafés are closed. But….here we can really enjoy the beautiful nature and we have a splendid view over the Barragem de Odiáxere, a gigantic lake with a lot of greenery around it. It is a welcome change from all the sea views of late. On our way we see large parts with burned-down woods. Blackened hills with grotesque trees, an earie sad sight to see. We also pass along big parts of the woodland on the mountains. Monchique is mostly known as ‘the garden of the Algarve’. It is both the name of a village and of the surrounding forests. Monchique is one of the highest situated villages and is famous for its natural sources. The village, commended in many a tourguide, is quiet, desolate and certainly not inviting. On the way, we lunch at a village restaurant, where the locals find us a bit strange. Funny foreigners in a bright red car with a Portuguese license plate. The Foia is the highest mountain of the Algarve. Although the term ‘mountain’ is a bit exaggerated; it is only 902 metres high. But the view is really phenomenal, you can look very far. Besides forests with cork-, walnut- and countless other domestic trees, you see most of all eucalyptus trees. We also see a lot of orchards with tortuous orange trees. The cork from the trees lies stacked up high in several spots, but due to the bad weather we are not able to take a picture. The days again are getting shorter and it darkens fast, so we arrive in the little town of Silves after dark. Which is a pity, because it really is a beautiful old town. But that should not spoil the fun, since we now, at entering the town, immediately have a view of the enormous beautifully lit castle, very impressive. We decide to have dinner here and are able to find a small restaurant that –at least – looks a little bit inviting. We both have (different) paellas and afterwards get back into our red car and drive back to Lagos. All in all a wonderful day!
 
Various things
In one of the many Chinese shops that are abundant in Spain and Portugal, we buy a sort of shopping cart. One that has sturdy wheels, because it has to be strong enough to carry the backpack with water bottles and wine boxes.
We also went to a local farmer’s market, where I shoot some pictures of the colourful stands. Dozens of chili peppers that hang out to dry, little ducklings squeezed together in a too small cage (which I personally find deplorable), piles of onions and other groceries and fruit in all varieties. Beautiful bunches of sun flowers, home-made cookies and braided baskets are on display.

Health
One day my back is better, another it is less well. It will take a few weeks more before it is all over and I should have patience….which I really don’t have at the moment.

The weather
Very variable, one day it is nice and sunny, the next it is clouded and chilly. For me it is time to move on, when I have to put on my jeans and a cardigan for the whole day! Time to leave for warmer locations!

Kit
Well..yeah.. he now jumps with great ease to the boat on the other end of the finger pier! It is high time we went and anchor somewhere, so that Mr. Kit can’t jump anywhere!
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23-11-2016, reactie van Ad en Joke Laene
Alsnog gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag. Een beetje laat maar uit een goed hart. Fijn te lezen dat het met de gezondheid weer wat beter gaat en dat jullie genieten van het varend leven.
 
24-11-2016, reactie van Enrique Y Carla
gefeliciteerd en nog vel mer vel plezier in Maroco (Enrique en Carla )



 
24-11-2016, reactie van Paula Burger
aroline alsnog hartelijk gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag. Kwam het vandaag 24 november pas te weten.
Toen ik hoorde dat jullie in Lagos waren dacht ik in Afrika maar dat is nog portugal zie ik nu op de kaart.
Leuke foto's die je stuurt en geniet er maar van al het schoons dat jullie kunnen bezichtigen.
Denk wel aan de gezondheid met rug(gen). Leuk weer een verhaaltje te ontvangen. Groetjes van Paula en tot het volgende verhaal en belevenis.
 
2-12-2016, reactie van Ria & Carel
Zijn zelf ook tweemaal in de Algarve geweest en met de huurauto het binnenland ingereden.
Door jullie verhaal komen weer talloze herinneringen bij ons op. Het waren heerlijke ritjes.
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